Elastic fluid turbine



Jan. 1, 1935.

s. a. WARREN ELASTId'i'LUID'TURBINE Filed Sept. 13, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Inve nbor. .Gle'n'n BWar-r en Hia Atbo'r'n'eg.

Jan. 1, 1935. 1 G. WARREN 1,985, 4

' ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE Filed Sept. 13, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I I a II Q I. a' 4 a Q N I S I Invent-or:

Q Glenn BWQT'reh His Atbovneg.

10 high turbine speed, in the order of 10,000

' Patented Jul; 1, 1935;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- IM 7 'ms'rrc num Trilliumv MRWI SoheneetaI'ILL IdmIh General Electric corporation 0! Nauru:

Company; a

mmiamzisummdsssz s cam. (01. ass-a) 'lhepresent invention relates toelastic fluid turbine drives for airplanes and the like, although it isnot limited thereto.

Many problems are encountered in the con- I struction of elastic fluidturbinesior drivius airplane propellers or the like not met with in theusual turbine constructions. These problems are partly due to thenecessity of making such tur bines as light as possible which leadstovery 20.000 R. P. 11., for example. Since at suchhlah speeds theturbine cannot be connected directly to the propeller or apparatus to bedriventhereby.special-speed reducing meanshavetobe pro- 16 vided. I

. Oneoblectoimyinventionistopi'ovidean improved elastic fluidturbinedrive' a reduction searing which is light in weight and compactin structure. I

20 A further object is to provide minim-owedattachmentoisuchaunittoanaircraitwhereby vibrations!!! the diflerentparts have little eflect on the unit itself as well as the aircraft.

Another object 01' my invention is to provide 25 a flexible arrangementbetween certain parts of the elastic fluid turbine as well as betweencor thisbeing importantowinatothehllh sotemperatureandhlahpressureottheelutic intheflrststl'scsoi-theturbine.

.Aiurtherobiectotmyinventionistoprovide unimproved amusementiortheturblneinlet rchesttopermitasimpleandreliablereaulaorthei'elasticfluid admitted to the turflt illanotherobj'ectoimyinventionhtopro-.videanimprovedarranaunsntiortheinter- -40thetworowsotbucketsontheflrltstasewheel ot-tbeturbine.

I'or a consideration of what I believe to be -totheaircratt.InthepresentinstanceIhave shown reductionsearcasingsasbeingpmvided'witha-flangedportionmhavingapluralityot lugs 10 (Fig.2)toriasteningtheflamtoa ring 11, preferably of annular shape andformingapartoitheairplanestmcture. ,Theunitisiastened-tothesupportingrin11bymeamot bolts 12. 13 designates thepropeller shattior drivingapropeller (notshown).

shnit ttached to asimleunit whichcanbeeasily theaircrait.Onepartonlyoithisunihinthe present instance the reductionsearcasim. isiastenedtotheaircraitandinturnfonmaslmmrtiortheotherpartdnthepresentinshnce theelasticfluidturbinewithsuchansrnncementheturbineisireetoexpandrelativelytothegearingwithoutsettinsuphiahstressesbetweenthetwoandtheaircratt;

Referringnma'especiiic'illlytolnyelasticfluidturbinsarranzementJhaveshowninthedraw;

disk. Fastened to the inner portion of the diaphragm disksare packingcarrying members l8 and welded to the outer portion are nozzle definingpartitions and shroud rings 19 and 20 rection between the inner andouter shell. To

facilitate this relative expansion I provide the ring members 25 withannular recesses 27 so that a comparatively small surface of the ringmembers 25 bears against the inner surface of the outer shell.

The first stage of the turbine has been shown as including a double rowwheel 28 of the impulse type with a segment of intermediate fluiddirecting means, termed usually intermediates", 29 between the two rows.Thisintermediate segment 29 extends over a section of the bucket wheel.To prevent theformation of undesirable elastic fluid currents known aswindage, I provide between the two rows of the double row velocity stagewheel a shield 30' extendingover a sector of the wheel not covered byintermediates 29. In the present instance I have shown shield 30 asbeing united with two other shields 31 and 32 facing the inlet side ofthe first row of buckets and the outlet side of the second row ofbuckets respectively; The three windage shields 30, 31 and 32 thus forma single member which in the present instance is held in position bymeans of screws 30' inserted through the outer casing 24. Duringassembly the windage shield unit is slid into the outer casing togetherwith the double row wheel 28.

The segment of intermediates 29 is carried by a plate 34 fastened to theoutside of the turbine casing. Segment 29 is inserted through an opening33 in the outer casing and is secured to the casing by suitable meanstogether with plate 34 to the turbine casing. Segment 29 and plate 34are assembled on the turbine casing after the inner turbine shelltogether with the rotor have been slid into the outer turbine casing.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modified arrangement for holding the segment ofintermediates for the double row wheel. According to this construc-'tion the inner casing 22a corresponding to casing 22 of Fig. 1 has anextension 22b projecting in axial direction beyond the inlet side of thefirst stage so'that it embraces the double row wheel 28a. 'Instead ofinserting the segment of intermediatesfor directing the fluid from thefirst row of buckets to the second row of buckets of the double rowwheel through a slot in the outer casing, as shown in Fig; 1, I provideaccording to this modified arrangement the projecting portionof theinner casing with an internal recess or groove .331: which in,substancecorresponds to the slot 33 in the outer casing of Fig. l, and I hold theouter portion of the segmentof intermediates 2911 within this recess byany suitable means such as welding, soldering or brazing. The segment ofintermediates 29a covers a portion only of the bucket wheel 28a. Inorder to prevent windage I provide shields which may beof sheet metal.In Fig. 4 in the' present instance I have shown two shields 3011 betweenthe two rows of buckets of the double row wheel with their outerportions inserted into internal recesses of the projecting portion 22bof the inner casing. Similarly I provide near the entrance side of thefirst row of buckets as well as near the exit side of the second row ofbuckets shields 31a and 321: respectively, corresponding to shields 31and 32 respectively of Fig. 1. To permit ready assembling of the shieldsI split them along a horizontal line through the axis of the turbinesimilar to the splitting of the turbine diaphragms. This arrangement hasthe advantage that it permits the complete assembling of the innerturbine shell 22 with the bucket wheels including the double row wheelon the shaft after which all these .assembled parts are slid into theouter casing 24.

The steam inlet for the turbine, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, comprises aconduit having two parts 35. and 36, integrally united with each other,and having walls provided with openings- 37 leading to a plate 38(Fig. 1) having nozzles which, direct elastic fluid to the first row ofbuckets of the first stage wheel 15. The nozzle plate 38 is heldpreferably by a weld to the inlet conduit with its nozzles in alignmentwith openings 37. The inlet conduit extends transversely to the axis ofrotation and is arranged at an opening of the outer casing and welded tothe walls defining this opening, thus forming a part of the outercasing. The interior of conduit parts 35 and 36 is divided by a wall 35'integrally formed with said parts for permitting the admission ofelastic fluid through some of the inlet nozzles 37 only. Fastened toeach part of the inlet conduit is a conduit 39 including a valve 40 forcontrolling the admission of elastic fluid. Conduit 39 and part 35 haveflanged end portions 41 engaging each other. A nut or like couplingmember 42 serves for fastening the two conduits 35 and 39 together. Aportion 43 of conduit 35-adjacent its threaded portion is rectangular incross-section to permit the holding of this conduit by means of a wrenchwhile nut 42. is applied. This is advantageous as it permits tighteningof conduit 39 to part 35 without-imparting excessive torsional forces topart 35.

During-operation, steam or like elastic fluid is admitted either throughboth conduit parts 36 and 37 or through one part only, as desired. Thebuckets of the first wheel cause the transformation of a part of thevelocity energy of steam passing, therethrou'gh into mechanical energywhich latter is transmitted to the turbine shaft. The steampasses-through the successive stages of the turbine until it reaches anexhaust hood 44 whence it is supplied to a condenser 44" connected tothe exhaust hood 44 by means of a flexible, flanged member 44'. Theprovision of an elastic connecting means between the turbine and thecondenser permitstrelative expansion between the two parts andfurthermore prevents vibrations of. the turbine from being imparted tothe condenser. In order to make the hearing at the exhaust 'endaccessible, I provide preferably an exhaust hood with two outlets one oneach side of the bearing. In the drawings I have shown in 1 a singleexhaust outlet arranged in the rear of the turbine bear- A cylindricalflanged member 45 has one end fastened to hood 44 by any suitable meansand another end secured to a flange 46 of the outer turbine shell andaflange 47 of support 6.

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casing, the right-hand ends being directly supported by the inner endwall of the casing and the left-hand ends being supported throughcasting 90 by the posts 92. From another view,- point, the casting formsa means for maintaining the left-hand ends of the spindles in properlyspaced'relation. An inner portion 94 of the casting'is provided with abearing bushing 95 for supporting the left-hand end portion of thepinion shaft. With this arrangement the shaft portion carrying pinion'15 running at turbine speed and transmitting the totaltorque of theturbine, is supported at both sides of the pinion. Another inner portion96 of casting 90 defines a support for a ball-bearing 97 for a hubportion 98 of an internal gear 99 driven by the gear units throughpinions 77 forming members of said units. 97' designates a nut fastenedto the screw-threaded end portion of hub 98 for retaining theball-bearing in its position. The three pinions 77 meshing with theinternal gear 99 are symmetrically spaced with respect to the pinionshaft, whereby the gear units cause equal distribution of load on theinternal gear. The radial forces between the internal gear and pinion 75acting towards the bearings of these The left-hand hub portion 100 ofinternal gear 99 is supported by means of a ball-bearing 101 held in arecess of an end plate or outer end wall 102 of the reduction gearing.An outer portion 103 of the end plate is flanged and centrally held atthe outer wall of gearing casing 8. 104 designates a nut engaging ascrew-threaded portion of the lefthand hub member of the internal gearfor retaining ball-bearing 101 in position. 105 is a ring member havingan outer flanged portion 106 for fastening this member toend plate 102,and an inner recessed portion 107 for containing a packing 108 toprevent leakage of lubricant from ball-bearing 101. The shaft 13,representing a means driven by the gearing which may serve to drive apropeller or the like, is fastened to the hub portions of the internalgear by means of a key 110.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

.1. In an elasticfluid turbine, a shaft, 9. first double row bucketwheel fastened to the shaft,

,ment and the shield.

2. In an elastic fluid turbine, a shaft, 9. double row bucket wheelfastened to the shaft, a casing having a projecting portion embracingsaid wheel, an intermediate segment between the, two

v rows of the wheel held in a slot through the projecting portion,shield means fastened to'the for preventing windage, the .outer casingincluding a conduit and a nozzle plate having nozzles registering withopenings in the conduit for directingelastic fluid to the flrst row ofthe wheel.

3. In an elastic fluid turbine, an inner casing comprising two halvesand means for holding the two halves together, ring members coaxiallyarranged with the inner casing and united. therewith, an outer solidcasing for supporting the inner casing with the outer surfaces of thering members engaging the inner surface of the outer casing, the ringmembers having grooves out into their outer surfaces so that a smallportion only of the outer surfaces engages the outer casing, a bucketwheel ahead of the inner casing as regards the direction of flow ofelastic fluid through the turbine, and means for directing fluid to thebucket wheel. I

4. In an elastic fluid turbine, an inner casing comprising two halvesand means for holding the two halves together, ring members coaxiallyarranged with the inner casing and united therewith, an outer solidcasing for supporting the inner casing with the outer surfaces of thering members engaging the inner surface of the outer casing, a doublerow wheel ahead of the inner casing as regards the direction of flow ofelastic fluid through the turbine, and an intermediate segment betweenthe two rows of the double row wheel fastened to the outer casing.

5. In an elastic fluid turbine, a rotor including a shaft, a casing,bearings for the rotor held by the casing, and means for supporting thecasing including a journal slidably engaging one of said bearings topermit relative expansion between the casing and said supporting means.

6. In an elastic fluid turbine, a turbine casing, a turbine shaft,bucket wheels supported by the turbine shaft, means driven by theturbine comprising a driven shaft within a bore of the tur bine shafthaving one end portion fastened to the turbine shaft and another endportion extending beyond the turbine shaft, said other end portiondefining a shoulder facing the end surface of the turbine shaft andbeing spaced therefrom, and a bearing for the shouldered portion of thedriven shaft and the end portion of the turbine shaft, said bearingincluding a journal flxed to the turbine casing and a support slidablyengaging the journal.

7. In a turbine drive, an elastic fluid turbine having a pinion shaftand aturbine shaft telescoping the pinion shaft, one portion of thepinion shaft being fastened to a portion of the turbine shaft forpermitting transmission of torque from the turbine shaft to the pinionshaft, a wall with a flanged portion adjacent the turbine, a bearing forthe pinion and turbine shafts supported by the flanged portion of thewall, the pinion shaft having a portion extending through the wall and apinion fastened to the extending portion.

8. In an elastic fluid turbine, a shaft. a bucket wheel fastened to theshaft, an integrally formed:

turbine casing having a slot, a fluid directing means inserted fromoutside through the slot in the casing for directing fluid to the wheel.and

a member provided outside the casing for solding the fluid directingmeans.

GLENN B. WARREN.

